ABSTRACT
This book is concerned with the reality of planning, scheduling and control in contemporary industrial and business organisations. These tend to be critical business processes that occur at the heart of an organisation and are key to what makes the organisation tick. They link customers with the primary manufacturing resources, balance the conflicting constraints on, and competition for these resources, and shoulder overall responsibility for meeting demands. Planning and scheduling comprise technical, organisational and human aspects. At their core are the people who manage and facilitate these processes in dynamic environments and ultimately ‘make it happen’. Central to this book is the view that industrial practice and performance cannot be understood, nor can more effective processes be designed, implemented and managed without taking a holistic view of planning, scheduling and control processes.
